despite all of Miami's struggles, including the big losing streak and the 9-8 start, they are still only 2 games back. thats kind of scary actually. not sure why everyone on espn is writing them off.

Because everyone at ESPN (most of the analysts anyway; I actually like some of their commentators) are le dumb.

Also, horrible time for the Spurs to start to get injured. LA is just 3 1/2 games back and even though they have the tougher schedule (Dallas, Denver, Portland, @OKC- yuck), they get to host San Antonio in the only remaining match-up between the two teams, and considering the way they've been playing over the last month, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if LA finished atop the West. It'd be an epic "comeback" in the sense that the Spurs had seemingly been immovable from the #1 spot all year.

It's because they don't have a star.

Hey batmayne, didn't you say you kind of used to play basketball with Kevin Love or something? Or went to the same high school? Given your storytelling skillz, have you got any funny ones about that dude?

Yeah we were in the same class (like, same classroom and everything) in 3rd and 4th grade. We weren't big buds or anything, and I'm not sure if he would immediately recognize me now, but I bet if we ever ran into each other he would remember me if I was like "hey, remember me" or something. We would have gone to the same high school but I ended up going to a Catholic school so I lost connection with the kids from my hometown I wasn't particularly close with. But our high school ended up beating him and his team every time they met in the state championship game. Our school made him cry once, and he got ridiculed for that his year at UCLA, especially when he came to Oregon (everyone in the state was pissed because he was such a prodigy and decided to get noticed at a historic basketball school instead of the Ducks. The nerve!).

But I do have a few good ones from grade school:

In 3rd grade we were on the school bus and it was a really hot day, and like many eight year olds I was a bit of pottymouth without a filter. So for whatever reason I felt the need to announce to anyone in the nearby rows "man, my balls are sweaty right now." A few people giggled and Kevin Love said, "huh huh, uhhh thanks for the info Will."

I only ever played basketball with him at recess, because he played rec ball a grade higher than everyone else. He would always announce at recess "Ok it's me, ernie, and sean (two other good players, one who plays college ball right now actually) vs all." And then it would be those three vs whoever else wanted to play, which was usually 20 or so kids. In 3rd grade he was already as tall as our teacher so they would just dominate. But yeah basically ever since he was a kid everyone in town was pretty sure he would be in the NBA. At least all the kids were. But then again I was pretty sure I'd be pitching for the Giants, so our predictions didn't mean much. By the time he was in high school it was no question though.

But my ultimate Kevin Love story (slash my only good one, the one I always tell) is that in the 5th grade jog-a-thon I ran more laps than him. I ran about 30 laps around the soccer field, and he stopped running after a lap or two to play on the swing set with the other good athletes who didn't have to prove anything. That was the only time I legitimately beat him in an athletic competition, except for the one time I got him out in bump (aka knockout). It was one of the great triumphs of my youth. On both occasions I decided I needed to remember those two times for when he was in the NBA.

If LA, Boston or Miami win the championship this year, I may cry. The Heat really don't belong on that list, but I hope they don't win.

Batman, that's so awesome!!

I'd be really surprised. Its only 3 back in the loss column but that amount with 8 games to go is huge. I mean last night the Spurs started none of their big 3 and still didn't lose that badly to Portland. Just don't see it happening. Because LA isn't running the table the rest of the way either. Not only have the never put more than 11 together with Bryant and Gasol if they did run the table it would be the best post all star performance ever and they aren't doing that. They also have a pretty brutal schedule. And btw the Portland game is at Portland.

I'm pretty pissed about the Dallas vs. LA scheduling though. Mavs get to play it on the back end of a back to back on the road. Lakers get to play it having not played since Sunday.

I think it's because of their struggles with Boston and Chicago as both are uniquely bad matchups (and if they did get the one seed Orlando is also a pretty horrible matchup for them). This is still and iso heavy offense and both Boston and Chicago have D's tailor made to stop it. If the Heat were in the West I think you'd see them getting less written off because they matchup pretty well with everyone there.

Wow, Cleveland stomped the Heat! When I turned it on the Cavs were ahead by 20. Lesson is, Lebron can get a triple double and you can still lose to the worst team in the NBA by double digits.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310329005

And pave in answer to your question what Batman said (plus box score) is why.

http://espn.go.com/nba/

Btw this picture of Baron on the front page of the NBA section is pretty fucking awesome. Perfectly captures his nutty intensity that he gets for games like this.

Yeah I had the Portland/OKC home and road thing mixed up. Misread the schedule, my b.

@Golden State - 3-0, margin of victory 19ppg
@Sacramento - 2-1, margin of victory of 13.3ppg
Oklahoma City - 2-0, game is at Staples where OKC is 0-7 in their last 7 games.
@Portland - 3-0, tough game as Portland always plays the Lakers well; LA won the first game in Portland.
Utah (both home and away) - 1-1, no Bynum in the loss by 6 in SLC, won by 29 in LA. No Deron Williams, Jazz are horrible on the road, have been horrible in the second half.
Denver - 1-1, again no Bynum in the loss, like Portland plays LA tough all the time, and they've been super hot as of late. Denver is another shitty road team though so yeah I'd say advantage LA.
Dallas - 1-1, pretty evenly matched beat Dallas on the road recently, been the better team over the last month, and as you said, it's the second game of a back-to-back for the Mavs. Could go either way.
San Antonio - 1-2; first big loss in SA was with Bynum just then getting healty. Second loss was on a tip in at the buzzer in a game the Lakers could have easily won. The most recent game in San Antonio the Lakers embarrassed the Spurs. Spurs have also been dealing with lots of injuries lately so who knows if they'll be healthy in time for the game.

So I see 14-6, three of those losses on the road and with either Bynum absent or ailing and one 50-50 loss at the buzzer. Anyway, yeah it's a tough schedule but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if LA at least went 7-2. If one of those wins is against San Antonio, that already cuts it to two games back. The Spurs schedule is easier but they play three back-to-backs, two from 3/31-4/6 and 5 games in that same 7 day stretch, and their current health problems only compound the difficulty of playing those b2bs. Boston, @Houston, @Phoenix, @Atlanta and @Los Angeles all look like losable games. Remember, this isn't the same Spurs team that rolled over teams to a 40-7 start. They're still one of the elite teams no doubt, but since they All-star break they're 11-7, and their average MOV is a paltry 1.7ppg. I don't need to tell you that over the same period, the Lakers are 15-1* with an 8.6 MOV. Oh, and contrary to the ailing Spurs, the Los Angeles are only getting healthier, with the return of Barnes and Bynum obviously feeling pretty well.

BOLDED: So they haven't won 11 in a row with Gasol and Kobe- so what? Like I said, 15-1 in their last 16 with wins against Orlando @Portland, @OKC, @Dallas, @San Antonio and @Atlanta (who've combined for a .729 win% at home this year). So they haven't won 11 in a row with Gasol and Kobe- is what they've done recently any less impressive? What precedent does the lack of an 11-game win streak in seasons past against different teams than they'll face over the next few weeks, as a different team, have?? Seems pretty arbitrary.

I'm not predicting it to happen or anything, I'm just saying it's not exactly a far-fetched proposition. If the over/under bet was a 40% chance of LA taking the top seed, I'd take the over any day.

Edit: Btw my point with no more than 11 is that they aren't running the table the rest of the way against that schedule. Even very great teams just don't do it and the Lakers are a team that's prone to losing when they don't focus on a weaker opponent. And the fact that they just ran off 15-1 (with a scoring margin that is not one of a 15-1 run) means that they've been somewhat lucky and are likely to drop a game or two at the end (I just hope it is to Dallas because if it isn't Dallas isn't catching LA I don't think).

Six bench points! The Heat's bench is bad, but better than six points. The big 3 put up great numbers and Bibby scored in double digits, and they still get destroyed.

Edit: my mistake. It was Bibby scoring over 20 and Bosh hitting double figures. Bibby's over achieving outweighs Bosh underperforming.

Will the heat have Haslem back for the playoffs?